WRITING: ONE WORD, OR TWO? OR … September 19, 2017 Clarity is everything in writing and in speaking. In person you have a chance to clear things up if what you said or asked didn’t quite make sense. But, in writing you don’t have that luxury; you have to be clear up front. Correct and sufficient punctuation can do much to help across the board, including to indicate whether two words should be together as one or should stay separated. Examples: Decision maker life long vs. lifelong eyedrops vs. eye drops Tom is the decision maker. Becoming an author has been her lifelong goal. I need to use more eyedrops. As she turns around, an eye drops into the bucket. A list of words that people often aren’t sure about–one word, or two—can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/901458.One_Word_Two_Words_Hyphenated and http://iws.collin.edu/dparker/tw_class_3211/proposals/Word-List.pdf What’s a third option? Hyphenation. Two words that are working together as a compound adjective to describe a noun need a hyphen between them, without spaces. Unclear: That face licking dog is cute. Is a face licking a dog? What’s happening here? Clear: That face-licking dog is cute. Which dog is cute? The dog that is licking a face is cute. Here’s another sentence that is confusing without punctuation inside it. “We are rewarding our prizes and special access based on attendee ordering sequence.” What’s going on? Are attendees ordering a sequence? If so, a sequence of what? Clear correction: We are rewarding our prizes and special access based on attendee-ordering sequence. The other way around confusion is to rethink and rewrite the sentence: We are rewarding our prizes and special access to attendees who order first. We are rewarding our prizes and special access based on the sequence in which attendees order. We are rewarding our prizes and special access on a first-come, first-served basis. We are rewarding our prizes and special access: Order first to get them first. See how clear sentences can be with sufficient punctuation? (Sigh) I love clarity! Many lessons and bits of advice in this writing/grammar series have been taken from Writestyle’s online campus. ...

WRITING: GENDER-SPECIFIC PRONOUNS/LANGUAGE September 8, 2017 This special, extra weekly issue has been prompted by extraordinary current events. It’s important–please read and share it with others ASAP. Usage of gender-specific pronouns verbally and in writing used to be straightforward and simple: “he” “him” “his” “boy” “man” “guy” “dude” “male” (and such) → to/about a human male; “she” “her” “hers” “girl” “woman” “gal” “broad” “female” (and such) → to/about a human female. Nowadays, though, in turns of events that many of us never imagined, genders aren’t always as clear as they used to be; so, pronouns aren’t, either. If you confuse us with a gender change or with how you identify with gender, we can’t always be sure how to address you. Recently, here in the good ol’ USA, some people, even children, have gotten into legal trouble after using incorrect gender-related pronouns. What? Are you as shocked as I? What’s next–being arrested for using incorrect grammar in any form? News flash: If that’s the case, we need a million new jails, yesterday. People who complain about incorrect usage of gender-related pronouns should do a reality check. Pronto! They’ll have to get over themselves and be objective. With gender-change surgeries going on, and a person looking like one gender but in physical/private reality being the other, the reality for the rest of us is that we’re not always sure what to say and we can’t all be expected to know. Young children are especially confused or unknowing; in many cases, explaining a gender change to a child is NOT an option. Whether we jump to conclusions or proceed with caution, we could still say the ‘wrong’ pronoun or something else that unintentionally might offend. Complainants who can be objective, after all, have to realize that if they were in our shoes, they probably would have as much trouble with such situations and pronouns as we’re having. The rest of us will do our best as tactfully and courteously as we can. So, complainants and others, including educators and law-enforcement people, should be reasonable and logical when our pronouns aren’t quite on target—or they might be the ones who get in trouble. Traditionally, “it” has been used for animals and inanimate objects, and occasionally in reference to a stranger’s baby whose gender we don’t know (“the baby”). An older child or adult who identifies with or has changed to the other gender is a human being; using “it” is not an acceptable option for...

WRITING: INTERVIEWING & JOURNALISM September 7, 2017 An editor or a writer should maintain a consistent tense when writing a person’s quotes/comments—EITHER all present tense (Jones says) OR all past tense (Jones said). An alternate word choice for “says” and “said” is okay occasionally, such as the following: Jones explains that businesses . . .; In addition, Jones believes that . . . ; He adds that when . . . Also, not all statements by an interviewee have to be within quotation marks. Traditional journalistic writing alternates between quoting (“Telecommunications and office furniture all have to work in harmony today,” says Jones, “or businesses are just throwing their money away.”) and reporting (Jones explains that businesses often buy chairs and aren’t taught how to adjust them for ergonomic comfort.). Decide which tense and quotation method will work best for you in each situation of your interviewing and writing, remember “Just the facts, ma’am” (no editorializing or dirty journalism!), and delight readers with your story. You can do it! Many lessons and bits of advice in this writing/grammar series have been taken from Writestyle’s online campus....

WRITING: TO SPLIT OR TO FIX? August 29, 2017 Having house guests for two weeks was fun, but I got behind in my work and then I was sick last week. Thank you for returning for more writing and grammar info! Sometimes writing is very easy, and the sentences flow readily from our minds through our fingers onto the page. At others, though, some phrases/sentences become like tongue twisters and don’t seem to come out right, no matter what we do. Trying to force writing and rhyme can cause discomfort and dissonance for both writers and readers. What to do? The Problem When you’re experiencing too much difficulty and/or confusion in writing or editing a sentence, step back, slow down, and read it out loud. Was it uncomfortable for you to say and hear? If so, look at/listen to the parts, and figure out what and where the problems are. Is logic/clarity the only problematic issue? Does it sound clunky and odd, without a smooth flow? Can you easily move or delete a word or two in order to achieve logic and a comfortable flow? If not . . . The Solution Consider reconstructing/rewriting the sentence or splitting it into two or three sentences, depending on its length. Also, think about whether text would be clearer, easier to read and hear, and overall more effective if portions are relocated/switched. You can even try both possibilities. Think at the sixth-grade level (newspaper writing/broadcast news) instead of doctorate level. Can you also get rid of any unnecessary or interfering words? If you really get stuck, ask someone for help. Then, reread to make sure that the flow of thought and logic have survived. Will it make sense to your readers and be easy for them to read/say? If so, you’re good to go. Don’t let a lack of flow and logic trip up or halt your writing, or even take half an hour to resolve. Getting upset and sending the piece out in problematic form won’t help, either. It should be easy enough to resolve; be objective and give it a reasonable second chance. Always go with what’s best for your readers. Many lessons and bits of advice in this writing/grammar series have been taken from Writestyle’s online campus. Like this blog and find it helpful? Watch your inbox for more! ...

WRITING: Got Writer’s Block? Pursuing Perfection? August 7, 2017 Got writer’s block? Pursuing perfection? Let’s get you out of those, pronto. Resolving the first can also relieve the second. Writer’s Block: Ever heard of free writing and webbing? Free writing: In the pre-writing phase, set a timer for, say, 20 or 30 minutes. Write whatever and everything that comes to mind, whether to generate ideas or to create on a topic. Don’t pause/stop to read, consider, or edit for spelling, grammar, word choice, or anything else. Just write! When the timer goes off, read what you have and you’ll be amazed to see how many ideas came out and what they are leading to. Webbing: For the lack of another explanation, webbing is a method of visually connecting ideas and subject-related words in a written web toward the writing goal. The writer can branch out and connect further as needed. Using this fast, concise method, the writer can stay on course to see and keep track of possibilities. Creating in these ways, timed or not, also can help to curb your tendency to be a perfectionist. Read on. Pursuing Perfection Because I’m also an editor who wants everything created by me or by others to be as good as possible, I really had to work on putting my perfectionism to the side during the creative process. Pursuing perfection is okay to a point but becomes unreasonable; we have to cut ourselves some slack. Just create—get those ideas out where you can see them—so that nothing will get in the way and make you forget some of the great phrases that you really want to use. Then, reread and tweak where necessary. Remember: Rereading, reconsidering, and tweaking can also produce new ideas; so, get those new ideas down quickly, too. Once you have a rough draft you can reread, reconsider, and revise. You can do...

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About Me

Professionally, after decades of employment for others, Vickie Weaver founded Writestyle in 1996 to provide writing, editing, proofreading, training, and more to clients worldwide. She has written and/or edited for “Coexistence Magazine” (national), “Ohio Magazine,” and various newspapers. In addition, she has edited or contributed to the writing of numerous books. Personally, she has won awards and publication for some of her poems and is compiling a book of her poetry. She enjoys music and dance, and strives for beauty and harmony in life.